Organic Agriculture in Latin America

Current status

In Latin America, slightly more than 300’000 producers managed 6.8 million hectares of agricultural land organically in 2012. This constitutes 18 percent of the world’s organic land and 1.1 percent of the region’s agricultural land. The leading countries are Argentina (3.6 million hectares), Uruguay (0.9 million hectares, 2006) and Brazil (0.7 million hectares). The highest shares of organic agricultural land are in the Falkland Islands/Malvinas (35.3 percent), French Guiana (10.6 percent), and the Dominican Republic (8.9 percent). Notable growth occurred in Mexico, where the organic area increased by more than 100’000 hectares.

It has been ten years since Costa Rica attained "third-country" status with the European Union (2003); the first country that was granted this status was Argentina, in 1992. A new scenario, with equivalence agreements among the US, Canada, and EU, is bringing new possibilities for the facilitation of organic product trade in the region. Domestic organic markets are being developed in every country, and the most popular farmers’ fairs are being consolidated in many places. Major efforts are being made in giving added value to products from this region. This is an important approach for the development of organic farming, especially in rural areas where raw materials are produced.